Love Is Pain
by TurboWiz70
Summary: When a happy couple tries to help a lonely friend, so many things could go right, yet so many things can go wrong. What if they end up harming those around them as well as themselves? A Fimogen fic that includes EClare drama. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

All I have to say is that this is something new for me. Title inspired by "Love Is Pain" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

* * *

Chapter One

Fiona was sitting in the back of Mr. Perino's class, trying her best to finish this essay now so she wouldn't have to do it that afternoon. She was almost done, but she kept noticing that smile out of the corner of her eye; every time she took notice of it, she could not help but smile herself. What she found incredible was that her girlfriend of one month was just innocently staring at her and nothing else, but it was still enough to make her heart beat like crazy.

"Not that I mind the staring, but don't you have to finish your essay?" she asked, breaking trance with her paper to look at the eyes she had grown to adore.

"I'll do it later," Imogen shrugged.

"Well, that's a shame, because I was hoping you could come over tonight."

"Oh really?" she said, sounding intrigued.

"Yes, and I was thinking about ordering your favorite: Chinese and peach cobbler. And maybe have a movie marathon?"

Imogen immediately fell in love of the idea, but she was not going to cave until she was informed of one detail.

"And . . . there can be cuddling?"

"Only if you're my cuddle buddy," Fiona negotiated.

Both of them were smiling at each other with loving eyes at this point and Imogen was all in.

"I guess I should start this essay then."

"Yes, you should," Fiona asked, reaching across to give her girlfriend's arm a small shove; Imogen retaliated with the same motion.

They continued this back and forth while suppressing giggles until they heard a gagging sound from behind them. The girls turned their heads and saw Eli sitting there; it was obvious that the noise had come from him, considering he was the only person sitting behind them.

"What was that?" Fiona asked of him.

"Can you two get anymore lovey-dovey?" he asked rhetorically.

"What's the matter, Eli? Feeling like a third wheel?" Imogen assumed.

"No," he said. "It's just difficult to focus on writing an essay about the French Revolution while you two are all . . . mushy."

"Well, get used to it," Imogen said before leaning across the aisle to give Fiona a quick kiss on the cheek. Fiona blushed and tried to work on her essay for the rest of class, but was becoming distracted by the way Imogen's hand was flying across the pages of her paper. Her pencil was steady yet fluid as her words left their marks on the white paper, painting a picture with letters. It was beautiful.

The bell interrupted Fiona's thoughts and she had just realized that she still had to write another paragraph plus a conclusion to finish her essay. Sighing in aggravation that she had to finish it tonight, she put her unfinished work in her binder and stood up. She then felt Imogen's hand in hers and, like magic, her anger melted away.

"You still have the rest of the day to finish it," she comforted her.

Fiona smiled at her before leaning in to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"Okay, I'm outta here," Eli declared. "See you guys whenever."

Without another word, he left the classroom, not looking back.

"Doesn't he seem a bit glum to you?" Imogen asked as she and Fiona moved out of the room behind their fellow classmates.

"It's Eli; he's always glum," Fiona reminded her.

"Glummer than usual then?" she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean . . . ever since this school year started he's been a bit . . . off."

"I don't follow."

"I mean, I hung out with him a bit over the summer and he seemed happy. Now, however, he's been . . . grouchy in a passive way."

"And it's not because you two dated and then broke up?"

"No, we were fine afterwards and everything was mutual; besides, this has been going on even before then," she said. "I just mean . . . I can't put my finger on it, but he's not acting himself."

"Well, he has just got out of a hard time, coping with his bipolar disorder and all."

"I know, but I just wish I knew why, you know?"

That was one of the many things Fiona loved about Imogen; she was always concerned and caring and she wanted to know that the people she cared about were okay.

"You're cute when you care," Fiona said, squeezing her hand. "I'm sure it's nothing; he's probably just getting used to grade twelve, that's all."

"I guess. And I hope you're right."

"Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Well . . ." Imogen said teasingly.

"Never mind," Fiona said.

Imogen giggled a bit before putting her head on Fiona's shoulder as they continued to walk to their science class.

"So . . . we're still having that Chinese, cobbler, movie date?" she asked hopefully.

"Once I get this essay for Perino done, I'm all yours," Fiona promised.

"And so is the cobbler," Imogen did not hesitate to add.

()()

"Hola," Fiona greeted, standing by Eli at his locker. Imogen had to go to Art, so she and Eli usually walked to Media together.

"Hey," he greeted, his tone still the same as it was that morning. "Did the future Mrs. Fiona Coyne already go on to class?"

"Yeah, she frolicked all the way from science; they're supposed to be studying landscapes today."

"I see," Eli said.

"Are you okay?" Fiona asked, curious if there was some sort of explanation for Eli's recent mood.

"Never better," he answered, closing his locker.

"Well, in that case, how do you feel about coming out with me and Imogen this weekend? We're going to see a movie."

"I think I'll pass on that."

"Come on."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Please, please, please," Fiona begged.

"No, no, no," Eli said.

"Eli, when was the last time you went somewhere other than school?" she asked him.

"I . . . I . . . I went to Adam's a couple of weeks ago."

"Besides Adam's, school, and the gym," she clarified.

Eli was silent; in truth, he had hardly left his house since the school year began, but he really did not want to admit that to Fiona.

"Come on," she said. "Come to the movies with Imo and I this weekend. It'll be fun."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not."

"Why not?" she interrogated.

"Because I'm busy," he said.

"Doing what?"

"Stuff that's none of your business," he said, hoping that it would stop her from questioning him; it was a mission failed.

"Do you have a date?" she asked.

"No."

"Are you hanging out with Adam?"

"No."

"Is it –?"

"Fiona, I have things to do, okay? Now drop it," he said before going past her and moving down the hall to the computer lab as quickly as possible.

()()

Hours later, the couple were having their movie date on Fiona's couch, Fiona's head in Imogen's lap. Empty takeout cartons and a bare bowl that used to be full of cobbler laid on the coffee table as a classic film from the nineteen eighties played on the television.

"I love your hair," Imogen stated as some of the strands fell through her fingers. "It's just so nice, long, and dark. It's like a chocolate waterfall . . . like in _Willy Wonka_."

Imogen expected Fiona to chuckle, blush, or even say something in agreement, but she remained mute; it was as if she did not hear a thing.

"Fiona?" Imogen said. "Fi, you okay?"

She sighed and sat up, feeling horrible that one of her best friends felt so rotten.

"I think you're right about Eli."

"Why do you say that?"

"I asked him to come to a movie with us this weekend and he said no."

"Why?"

"Evidently he's busy."

"That's what he always says," Imogen stated. It was true; lately, that has been Eli's classic excuse for getting out of plans.

"Exactly," Fiona said. "I don't know what his deal is."

"Do you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think he's lonely."

"Lonely?"

"Yeah, he's around the two of us all day and he must feel like the third wheel at times; maybe he's jealous that we found someone and he's still single."

Fiona dwelled on these words; it would make perfect sense. It would explain the moodiness he had whenever he was around them, his refusal to hang out with them after school, and how annoyed he got whenever they acted sappy with each other.

"Poor Eli," Fiona said. "Do you think it'll make him feel better if we don't act all mushy around him?"

Imogen merely shrugged. "It doesn't change the fact that we're in a relationship and he's not."

"Good point," she agreed.

The two of them leaned, wishing there was something – _anything_ – they could do to help their friend. They had not seen him happy in so long and he deserved it because of everything he'd been through this past year. He deserved to be with someone who would make him smile and laugh.

But how could he find someone when would hardly leave his house unless necessary? He wouldn't. He needed a push to get back up on the dating horse or he needed to wake up and see that there could be someone out there for him . . .

Then it came to Fiona . . .

"I have an idea," she said, sitting up.

"What?" Imogen asked enthusiastically, sitting up straight as well.

"We should set him up with someone."

"Seriously?"

"Of course," she said, smiling.

"Do remember how that went last time?"

"And you guys worked for that certain period of time."

"Still, I'm not sure Eli will go along with it. He doesn't know that we know that he's lonely, remember? We might even be wrong and he's just adjusting to the school year like you said."

"Do you really believe that?"

"No," Imogen answered honestly. "But I don't think we should just set him up with someone."

"Well, what if we just get Eli and his significant other to hang out and then they can determine the relationship for themselves?"

Imogen sat back and thought for a second; starting off with a friendship usually had better results, so maybe Fiona was on to something. And, by doing that, Eli would be in control as to how fast or slow the relationship goes. It seemed like a perfect plan . . . it _was_ the perfect plan.

"Okay, but it has to be the perfect girl for Eli."

"But who?"

"Well, let's rule out those who are already taken."

"That takes out Marisol, Bianca, you, and me."

"Katie Matlin?" Imogen suggested.

"No, she's not really is type."

"Well, I can't think of any other girls in our grade who are single and his type."

"Okay, then let's skip down to the grade elevens."

They did not know many people in the grade below them, but a fair few stuck out. They soon eliminated Jenna since she was with Jake and Alli since she was with Dave. There was only one option left that they could see and there was no use in denying her existence.

"What about Clare Edwards?"

"What?" Fiona spat.

"We were both thinking it, one of us had to say it," Imogen said. She had actually thought of Clare first, but she was not sure if she should mention her or not.

"But Clare Edwards?" she repeated. "I don't think she wants anything more to do with Eli."

"Think about it: he always goes by her locker to go to math even though it's the longer route, he always smiles at her when he sees her at lunch, _and_ he hasn't been in a relationship since their breakup."

"Uh, let's remember that you two dated," Fiona reminded her.

"Yes, but it was short lived," she explained. "Look, I had a crush on the guy for a year and even_ I _could not deny the chemistry they had."

Fiona then recalled the time Eli told her that he said that he would probably always love Clare. Was it because of that love that he was so afraid to go back into dating again? Was it because of that girl, who he had seen date another guy for so long, that he felt so alone? It was possible and she wanted Eli to be happy, but there were so many more parts to the equation here.

"Well, even if he is still interested in her, she's probably not interested in him. It took her longer to get over Jake than Eli, so she's probably still over him."

"But feelings can come back," Imogen reminded.

"This is Clare, though."

"So? She's still a teenage girl who dated him; and, with their history, those feelings can't just change overnight or disappear so quickly."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there's more to Miss Clare Edwards than meets the eye; maybe deep down she still cares for him. Those feelings just have to be resurrected and she and Eli will be back together in no time."

"Are you crazy? How are those feelings going to be resurrected?"

"That's when we come in," Imogen said, plans already forming in her brain.

"What do you want us to do? Hold an intervention for Clare until she falls for Eli again?"

"No, that's too simple. We just need to get them together and then everything will start to unfold, then we set them up, and we all live happily ever after."

"Imogen, they've had plenty of opportunities to make things work, but nothing. Clearly, the universe isn't ready to bring them together."

Imogen rolled her lips and picked her backpack off the floor before pulling out her laptop, opening it up, and logging on to Facerange.

"If the universe won't bring them together, we will."

* * *

I know this chapter was short, but I didn't want to include too much; just enough to start it off. This will be centered mostly around Fimogen with some EClare interaction. 10 reviews for Chapter 2, deal?


	2. Chapter 2

You guys did not disappoint! Thank you SO much for your reviews! Let's keep it them coming, please! By the way, the chorus of the song "Love Is Pain" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is more relatable to the story than the rest of the song. Just wanted to throw that out there. Here's Chapter Two! Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

* * *

Chapter Two

Imogen and Fiona spent most of their time scrolling through Clare's Facerange posts to find any hints of her either being interested in someone or if she was still interested in Eli. It was bittersweet for them to learn that there was no information whatsoever on the subject; this meant that there was the possibility that she did not like anyone, and that included their best friend. Deciding to make observations on Clare's behavior at school the next day, they finished their movie and cuddled until Imogen's curfew.

The following morning, Imogen was standing across from Clare's locker, a magazine covering her face. She peered over the top and saw Clare transferring a book from her book bag to the locker before looking over some papers. She was so focused that she was really surprised that she was not startled when someone sat on the bench next to her.

"What are you doing?" Fiona asked.

"Shhh," Imogen said quietly. "I'm observing."

"What?"

"I'm watching for signs of crushing from Clare."

"Like what?"

"Oh, the usual; staring into space, watching someone as they walk by, checking out someone, fiddling with hair, blushing, etc."

"You really think that'll tell us something?"

"That's how I found out you liked me," Imogen shrugged, turning and giving Fiona a grin.

"I thought that was because my mom told you," she smiled back.

"No, she just confirmed it," Imogen said before peering over her magazine to see Clare again. "So far, she has not done anything out of the ordinary, but the day is young."

Fiona, although impressed by Imogen's determination, had to speak her mind; ever since Imogen proposed that they get Eli and Clare back together, she had been giving it thought. She was up half the night wondering if this was the best thing they could do; by one o'clock she decided that it wasn't and she had to let Imogen know that before they did anything too drastic or took things too far.

"Listen, I've been thinking and . . . maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"What do you mean?"

"This whole setting them up thing; I don't think we should do it."

"Why not?" she asked, slightly disappointed that Fiona was already considering backing out.

"Giving them the push to go out again is going to be tough; making sure they stay that way is going to be even harder; _and_ there's a chance that anything we do won't work."

"But it's not impossible," she reminded her, continuing to use the magazine to shield her face. "We're just going to get them talking again, give them time, and then set them up; we're just putting them in the right direction."

Fiona rolled her lips, determined to be the convincer this time instead of the one being convinced.

"Meddling like this won't help."

"It was your idea to set up Eli with someone," Imogen said in a hushed tone so no one passing by would hear them.

"I didn't mean with his ex."

"She's _perfect_ for him."

"So? She made it clear last year that she doesn't want to be with him."

"Things can change. And she's single now; maybe something good can come of it."

"Like what?"

"They could become friends again, get feelings for each other, fall in love, get married, have kids, grow old together, and die in each other's arms."

"You realize the chances of all of those things happening are slim, right?"

"Better slim than zero," Imogen said. "Do you want Eli to be happy or not?"

Fiona took a breath at a loss for words. Yes, she wanted Eli to be happy, but what if the person Imogen had in mind wanted to stay out of the picture? It was a ridiculous idea to select Clare merely because there was this huge chance that she would never want to be involved with Eli again. On the other hand, she could not think of anyone else who could be the perfect match for him. He was really happy with her as well, and that's what he deserved. Eli clearly missed Clare, but he was too ashamed, embarrassed, or nervous to talk to her, so maybe getting the two of them talking again wouldn't do much harm.

"If we find out that she is not interested in Eli in anyway, we back off and find someone else for him."

"Deal," Imogen said with a small squeal, enthusiastic as to what they would be doing.

()()

Imogen had to stay in her Art class after the bell rang to work on a project she was going to do to get a scholarship for university, so it was just Fiona and Eli who would be hanging out during their study period today; they would be going to the library while they waited for Imogen to come meet them before they all had to go to history. They were walking down the hall and turning a corner when Eli accidentally made a collision with someone. The two of them almost fell down, but they regained their balance and were safe from tumble. Fiona stood to the side, seeing who the person Eli had ran into before he realized it himself; she immediately took it as a sign that she and Imogen were meant to put their potential plans into action.

Both Eli and the person were too shocked by the sudden impact that it took each of them a couple of seconds to realize just who they were speaking to.

"Oh I'm . . . I'm sorry," he said less urgently when he saw who he bumped into. Clare was looking back at him, taken aback since this was the first kind of contact she and Eli have had in months.

"Don't worry about it," she said before walking around him and moving down the hall. Eli stood there, his face reddening and keeping his eyes glued to the ground as he and Fiona continued going down the hall.

"Okay, what is the deal with you two?" she couldn't help but say.

"What do you mean?" Eli asked.

"You and Clare," she said. "Some days you are civil to her and the next you're trying to avoid her."

"No I don't," he stated. "I'm always civil."

"Three days ago you saw her coming and basically stuffed your head in my locker," Fiona said, recalling the incident.

"I thought I dropped my pen in there," he said in a weak attempt to cover his tracks.

"Look, if you're not over her –."

"I am over her," he argued.

"Come on," Fiona said, not believing him.

"It's true. I don't even remember her name."

"Who's name?"

"Clare's."

"Clare who?"

"Edwards."

"Ha!" she remarked triumphantly. Eli scowled, not believing how easily he walked into that.

"Well, she's a friend."

"Is she?" Fiona said; from what she saw, Clare did not even come close to the title as "friend".

"Yes."

"So you two talk?"

"Um . . . it's been a while, but we do."

"What was the last conversation you had with her?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," he said. Fiona, however, knew he was just trying to avoid the subject.

"_When_ was the last conversation then?"

Eli opened his mouth, but closed it again. Opened. Closed. Opened. Closed. In truth, he had not had a real conversation with Clare since the summer when they were at Jake's cabin. However, he was not going to admit that to Fiona and let her have the satisfaction of trapping him in a corner.

"Okay, maybe we're not exactly friends, but . . . but it's fine. She's happy; that's the important thing."

"But are _you_ happy?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

She had half a mind to tell him what she was really thinking by saying how she and Imogen thought he was lonely, but that was a serious accusation to make and she did not want to be in Eli's bad books. Instead, she went down a different path to assume something entirely different.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"I . . . I . . ."

Fiona looked at him as they continued to walk, knowing he had no other option than to embrace defeat.

"Okay, maybe I miss her a little."

"A lot."

"Alright, a lot!" he confessed. "But we don't talk anymore and she wants nothing more to do with me."

"You don't know that. You haven't really given her the chance to know the Eli you are now; she only knows the struggling one. Maybe if you two hung out again, you guys can go back to that friendship you used to have."

"I don't know," Eli said, shaking his head.

"Why not?" she asked. "You guys could be really happy."

"It didn't work out last time. Why should it this time?"

"Things have change," she shrugged. "A lot of couples who take that second chance and things between them are better."

"Name one," he dared.

"Easy," Fiona smiled, recalling a phone call she had a couple of weeks again. "A certain brother of mine got back together with his high school sweetheart when they both went to Yale."

"Holly J and Declan really got back together?" he asked.

"Indeed," she nodded. "So, if they work, surely you and Clare can as well."

"I still don't think that's a good idea."

They walked into the library and sat down before pulling out their books; Eli was determined to get some homework done, but Fiona had other ideas.

"What if you guys are just friends?" she said, wishing that the two of them took this step on their own instead forcing her and Imogen to do it themselves.

"It's a bad idea," he protested, his eyes focusing on the center of the page in his history book.

"How is it a bad idea?"

Eli did not answer; the silence gave Fiona an opportunity to connect the many dots that existed in this picture.

"Because you'll be heartbroken if you two don't work as friends . . . because that'll mean you two won't get back together . . . because you still have feelings for her!"

"Shhh," Eli hissed, snapping his head, looking over his shoulder for onlookers and eavesdroppers. "Say it a bit louder; I don't think the rest of Degrassi heard you."

"You still like her!" Fiona said in a low whisper.

"No, I don't. We're done, over, kaput, finished, done, nonexistent, –."

"I get it. But that doesn't mean you don't feel something for her."

"I don't."

"Don't lie to me, Eli," she scolded, crossing her arms with a grin on her face. "You have feelings for her."

"Just because you keep repeating it doesn't mean it's true."

"I wouldn't have to if you just told me."

"I can't because it's not true."

"Oh, come on," she groaned, getting annoyed at his constant denying.

"Even if I did feel something for her, why would I tell you? Last time I told you I liked someone you tricked her into a date with me."

"Well, if you look me in the eye and tell me that you're really over her, I'll let it go."

"Fine," Eli agreed before making his green eyes meet her blue ones. "I'm _over_ Clare Edwards. _Completely_ over her."

"Alright," Fiona sighed, knowing it was her turn to surrender. She turned back to her work, no longer being able to look at Eli. "You're over her."

()()

"He is _so_ not over her," Fiona stated as they moved to their usual table at the Dot. She and Imogen had agreed to a coffee date so they could talk, do some homework, and discuss their plan to get Eli and Clare back together.

"The poor boy's in denial," Imogen sighed as she pulled out a seat and gestured for Fiona to sit down.

"Thank you," Fiona grinned, sitting down in the chair.

"Anything for my lady," she smiled back before sitting across from her. "Now, what should we do with our star-crossed lovers?"

"Well, we have to get them together as friends first; that's the main priority right now. We can't advance to a date until they are sure for their feelings for each other, which won't happen until we get them in the same room together."

"And everything unravels from there," Imogen concluded.

"But how could we get them talking again?"

"I think one of us has to become friends with Clare," she suggested. "She is an important part of this."

"Absolutely," Fiona agreed. "Which one of us should it be?"

"I think it should be me; we developed a tiny acquaintanceship last year when I was trying to get together with Eli."

At those words, Fiona looked down at her cup of coffee, feeling a bit stung by the fact that Imogen had these feelings not so long ago and that everything was disregarded so quickly. It hurt a bit to see her girlfriend go out with one of her best friends and it was still a bit weird for her to think about whenever the memories came back to mind. Sometimes she could not help but wonder if Imogen was really over Eli; then again, she proposed the breakup, so it did not make sense to think otherwise. Nonetheless, the usual past-relationship paranoia plagued her brain. Imogen, thankfully, saw the pain in her eyes and knew that it was time to step in before Fiona's feelings sunk even lower.

"Thankfully, I'm not in denial about who I like," she assured her by putting her hand over hers. Fiona looked up at her and smiled, feeling at ease.

"You're the best."

"I guess that means we're in a tie."

Fiona blushed a bit before they got back to discussing Eli and Clare.

"What are you going to do after you become friends with her?"

"Then I'll find out if she misses Eli, if she has feelings for Eli, if she wants to be friends with Eli . . . basically anything related to Eli."

"What if Clare thinks there's something going on?"

"I'll be subtle," Imogen promised. "And, it may take me a few days, but I will eventually get her to tell me how she feels about him."

"But what if she likes someone else? Or what if she's not over Jake?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's just get me in Clare's circle of friends."

"Got it; short-term goals."

"Exactly," Imogen said. "So tomorrow I will break the ice with Clare Edwards."

"And I'll keep working with Eli until he admits that he has feelings for her."

"Miss Coyne, we are officially in the matchmaking business."

* * *

Fimogen, EClare, and Dolly J! Three ships I love and support 100% are mentioned in this! Just need to put some Semma, Jiberty, Spane, Ziley, Drianca, and Zaya in there and I have my absolute favorite ships in one story (that's not going to happen, but I may do a whole new fic on all of them at once one day . . . although, Jiberty may be a bit difficult to use with the rest of them). Sorry, went completely off topic there (I do that a lot).

One more thing: the Frostival will not happen in this fic. If it did, I would've put that in the summary. This is takes place post "Need You Now", but after that it's run by my imagination.


	3. Chapter 3

Oh my Stohn! You guys are seriously awesome! I loved all your reviews and I'm so glad you guys are into this story as much as I am! That just warms my Fimogen/EClare heart! Here's the third chapter! Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

* * *

Chapter Three

"Hi, Clare."

Clare turned her head and saw a grinning Imogen standing by her locker.

"Hi, Imogen," she replied, slightly surprised that this girl was talking to her.

"How have you been?"

"Okay, I guess," she shrugged before closing her locker and going down the hall. She hoped that Imogen would remain behind; instead, the quirky senior arrived by her side and kept following her lead.

"Are you enjoying grade eleven?"

"I guess," Clare answered, still perplexed as to why Imogen was speaking to her in the first place.

"Are you doing anything new or are you still on newspaper?"

"What's with the twenty questions?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation."

Clare turned around until she was facing Imogen, both of them stopping in their tracks.

"Listen, I don't want to be rude, but if you're just talking to me just so you can pull some stunt with Eli again –."

"Clare Edwards, I am hurt," she said semi-dramatically, slapping her hand over her heart. "I have moved on from that."

"So . . . you're not trying to get Eli back or anything?"

"This has _nothing_ to do with Eli Goldsworthy whatsoever," Imogen reassured, crossing her fingers behind her back. "I am _completely_ over him and I have a new someone in my life."

"Well, that's good," Clare said with a grin. Imogen observed how that grin came to her lips when she stated that she was completely over Eli; the wheels in her head were beginning to turn.

"But we ended on a bit of a bad note last year and I think it's time to bury the hatchet," Imogen proposed.

"Um . . . okay," Clare accepted. "Consider it buried."

"So we're good?"

"I guess so," she shrugged.

"Brilliant!" Imogen exclaimed with a slight jump in the air. "May I walk you to your next class then?"

"Uh . . . sure," Clare said, accepting the offer.

As the two girls went down the hall, Clare saw this as the beginning of an unusual friendship. Imogen, however, saw it as a step closer to her and Fiona's ultimate goal.

()()

"I have some good news then I have some better news," Imogen declared as she sat across from Fiona at their lab table.

"And they say no news is good news," Fiona said as she looked up from her science book. "What's up?"

"I just had a teeny-tiny conversation with a certain someone who our beloved Eli is possibly infatuated with."

"Really?" she exclaimed. "You talked to Clare?"

"You are looking at her newest acquaintance."

"This is great! How did you do that?"

"I was nice to her; simple as that."

"Alright, so what's the better news?"

Imogen looked around to be sure that no one was in earshot when she leaned across the table and began speaking to Fiona.

"I _think_ she may just be interested in Eli."

"Details! Details!" Fiona urged.

Smiling at her enthusiasm, Imogen continued what happened during her and Clare's encounter.

"She asked me if I was just talking to her to try getting back with Eli, I said no, and she was _smiling_."

"Really?"

"And it was a smile of relief," Imogen concluded as she sat back in her stool.

"But that _could_ just mean that she's glad you're not doing anything crazy," Fiona reminded.

"Yeah, but she knows I'm friends with Eli; maybe she has a scheme of her own up her sleeve to get back with him through me."

"I doubt it, but it's possible," she nodded.

"And . . . I have this one idea that is not absolutely crazy and it could be useful, but it's a bit of a sacrifice."

"What's that?" Fiona asked, hoping that Imogen would not go too far.

"Um . . . she doesn't sit with anyone at lunch, so . . . maybe it will be beneficial if I sit with her."

Imogen said this with so much guilt, not wanting to leave her girlfriend. Sure, Fiona would have Eli at lunch, but she knew that Fiona loved it when she ate lunch with her. She wrung her hands together and watched her as she tapped her pen on her book in deep thought.

"We can think of another way if –."

"It's a good idea."

Imogen was taken aback, amazed that Fiona agreed.

"You think so?"

"Definitely," Fiona answered. "If helps us get through to Clare, go for it."

Relieved that Fiona was not reacting negatively to this, Imogen smiled and sighed.

"Well, this means I need to start thinking of what I could say to her and how we can approach the topic of relationships and boys; it'll be a matter of time before she confesses her hidden love for Eli."

"You're so devious."

"Why thank you," Imogen said with a nod.

"I'll miss you at lunch though."

Imogen smiled before reaching over to take Fiona's hand.

"I promise that I'll make it up to you."

"How so?"

"Hmm . . . will two dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies do the trick?"

"Only if you make them."

"Deal," Imogen said with a final smile.

()()

"Is Clare bi?" Fiona demanded of Jake.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Imogen went on to Art class, so this gave Fiona the perfect opportunity to ask Jake Martin a thing or two about his stepsister.

"Is Clare bi?" she repeated

"No," he said.

"Lesbian?"

"No."

"Has she been curious about –?"

"She's a hundred and fifty percent straight," he finalized before any more questions about Clare's sexuality were asked.

"Okay, good to know," she asked before beginning to walk away.

"Hold up," Jake said, causing Fiona to turn around. "You can't just ask me if my sister is gay and walk away."

"Sure I can," she shrugged. "Watch."

She began to make a beeline to the exit when Jake cut her off, towering over her in the process.

"Fiona, what is going on?"

Knowing that he would not move out of her way until she confessed, she looked straight up at him.

"My girlfriend is having lunch with her and I just want to be sure."

Jake chuckled.

"You were worried that Clare was going to steal your girlfriend?"

"I know, it sounds weird, but I'm protective that way."

"Okay, fair enough. But, FYI, Clare has been the victim of that stuff before; I doubt she'll ever do that to someone else."

"Got it," Fiona said, feeling instantly relieved. She walked around Jake before pausing and facing him again. "Can you do me a big favor and not mention this to Clare or Imogen?"

"My lips are sealed," he promised, wishing that he did not partake in this situation at all.

"Thank you," Fiona said before leaving the room.

()()

Imogen had been having lunch with Clare practically every day, they hung out after school, and they even spent a few study periods together. Fiona was a bit annoyed at the fact that Imogen was spending a lot of time with Clare, ergo less time with her. Every night, however, they would chat online and Imogen would always reassure her that Fiona was the number one girl in her life. The very idea that Imogen felt that way made her grin, let alone hearing the words for herself. Whenever she saw Clare and her laughing, she did feel that small pang of jealousy, but it passed; they were doing this to help Eli and that would be worth all the time they were spending apart.

Two weeks past and they were exactly where they started. Imogen still did not have the slightest clue how Clare felt and Fiona had yet to get Eli to admit his feelings. She had tried, but every time they approached the subject, he recoiled. Since they were alone at lunch, it gave them some alone time together, so she hoped for something after a couple of weeks, but zilch. Many days she just wanted to strangle him until he admitted that he still had feelings for Clare, but she had the feeling that do that would get her nowhere.

After another day full of unasked and unanswered questions, Fiona and Imogen were sitting on Fiona's couch, trying to figure out what they could possibly do about this couple.

"Maybe we need to think of a new approach," Fiona suggested.

"Like what? Torture them until we get a confession?"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea at the moment," she sighed.

The two of them leaned back and groaned, wishing that there was some way to get the two of them to open up and admit their feelings.

"This shouldn't be this difficult! Why must they be so hardheaded?"

"It's the way they are," Imogen sighed. "Maybe we should retire from this matchmaker thing. We obviously suck at it."

"Are you crazy? We can't quit on them now."

"We've been working on them for two weeks with nothing to show for it."

"Exactly," Fiona said. "Let's not let them be a waste of time."

"I don't know what else we can do; I can only take so many conversations about vampire fiction and, if I don't get anywhere with Clare soon, I might just lose my mind."

Fiona scooted closer to Imogen and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Remember why we're doing this?"

"To make Eli happy," Imogen recalled.

"To make Eli happy," she echoed. "And all of this endless waiting will be worth it once they're together again."

Imogen sighed, knowing that Fiona was right; she loved Eli as a friend and she hated seeing any of her friends sad, so just going to continue doing all she could to help.

"I'm going over to Clare's tonight; maybe I'll find out something then."

"That's the spirit," Fiona grinned, trying not to be affected by the fact that Imogen was, once again, bailing to spend time with Clare.

"I just wish they could get back together soon; I miss spending all my time with you."

Fiona grinned at her before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Don't worry, they'll be hand-in-hand soon enough."

"I hope so."

"We'll get them back together somehow, whatever it takes."

()()

An hour later, Imogen and Clare were in Clare's room, hanging out and talking.

"When was the last time you had a friend of the female sex over?" Imogen asked, recalling how Clare said at lunch that she did not have many friends who were girls.

"Um . . . summer, I think," she recalled. "My ex-best friend and I are still avoiding each other."

"Why? I mean, she's with someone and you and Jake were back together for a certain period of time."

"I don't know; past experience, I guess."

Imogen nodded in understanding, knowing all too well what it felt like to have feelings for someone who had feelings for someone else.

"Speaking of past experience –."

_Knock! Knock!_

"Dammit," Imogen hissed under her breath; she was just about to ask Clare about Eli when Jake knocked and stuck his head in the room after given permission.

"Hey, Imogen," he greeted Clare's guest before turning to his stepsister. "Clare, can you give me a hand with something real quick?"

"Depends on what," she agreed.

"Uh . . . my computer is messing up."

"_Again_?" she exclaimed; this must have been the third time this week that this has happened.

"Yeah, I clicked _enter_ and then it started acting up."

"Fine," she sighed in aggravation. "Sorry, Imogen, I'll be back in a sec."

"Don't worry about it," Imogen said, still slightly annoyed about the interruption but knew that it would be no use to dwell on it. Clare and Jake soon left the room, leaving her all alone. Deciding to stretch her legs a bit, Imogen got on her feet and began to walk around the room, looking at all the pictures and posters on the walls.

She was innocently looking at Clare's bedside table and saw a framed picture of a younger Clare, another girl around thirteen, a woman who she knew to be Clare's mother, and a middle-aged man; this must have been Clare, her sister, and parents before the sister (Imogen thought her name was Darcy or Marcy or something but she could not be sure) left and her parents split up. Curious, Imogen picked up the picture, only to have it slip out of her hand and hit the floor.

"Drat," she said before leaning down to pick it up, relieved that it did not get damaged. She was about to stand back up when she noticed a small object underneath the table; wonder taking over her, Imogen snaked her hand through the cramped space between the opening and the floor. Seconds later, a small, dark blue book was revealed to her.

Imogen looked over her shoulder before putting the picture back and opening the book, millions of thoughts running through her mind. This had to be Clare's diary; why else would it be out of sight? She flipped to a random page; the date and a heading that said _Dear Diary _were at the top of the page. She flipped through the pages, not reading anything but looking inside; there were pictures taped inside, doodles in the margins, and thousands – maybe millions – of words.

She saw Eli's name in there a lot, even in some of the most recent entries. That fact lifted her spirits; this was exactly what she could use to get inside Clare's head and it would reveal if she still liked Eli. She did not have time to read it now, for Clare could be back at any second.

_Clare._

They had just become friends and Imogen did not want to ruin that; she had grown rather fond of Clare over the last couple of weeks and she didn't want to hurt her. But then there was Eli. This girl made him happy and she swore to herself that she would get them together again. It was a choice she had to make and she had to make it fast.

Imogen had to decide now before Clare came back: take the diary and put their effort in jeopardy or leave it behind and waste more time. She was in the middle of this debate in her head when Fiona's voice filled her head:

"_We'll get them back together somehow, whatever it takes._"

Imogen sighed and nodded, her decision being made.

"Whatever it takes," she declared before stuffing the diary in her backpack.

* * *

Tacos? Reviews?


	4. Chapter 4

You guys are seriously amazing! I can't believe the feedback this baby is getting! Thank you so much (and it's great to know that so many of you like tacos. Ha-ha). Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

* * *

Chapter Four

Imogen was hammering on Fiona's door minutes after she pulled her heist. Everything was a blur and she was certain that the diary in her bag had added a thousand pounds. She could barely remember how she got out of Clare's house, but she hoped she wasn't acting suspicious as she left. She did not know if Clare would notice, but she did not want her to stick around long enough to find out. The second she fled the Edward/Martin household, Imogen went to the only place should go to at a time like this. The Coyne's loft was her safe haven right now and she hoped that Fiona would be there and not think of her as absolutely insane.

"I'm coming, calm down," Fiona hollered from inside. Seconds later, she opened the door; her hair was damp and she was wearing a long black robe. If Imogen was not in so much shock as to what she had done, she would have cracked a smile; Fiona noticed how scared she looked and was instantly concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," Imogen admitted as she came into the room and beginning to pace, putting her bag on the table as if it was a bomb. "I'm not sure if I just did something good or incredibly stupid."

"What are you talking about?" Fiona asked, closing the door and watching Imogen with worry.

"I did something . . . something I'm not sure if I should've done . . . but I had to . . ."

"Imogen!" Fiona exclaimed, standing in front of her and putting her hands on her shoulders and meeting her eyes. "What is going on?"

Imogen turned her head to the bag and Fiona mirrored her.

"I stole something," she admitted, looking back at Fiona.

"WHAT?" she demanded, snapping her head back.

"Not from a store or anything," she reassured, doubting it will help.

"So?" Fiona said, removing her hands from Imogen shoulders. "What exactly _did_ you steal?"

Imogen moved to her bag before digging inside and pulling out the book.

"It's Clare's diary," she confessed.

"You stole her diary?" Fiona almost screamed.

"I know, it was wrong, but we could use this."

"Imogen, Clare's personal thoughts are in that diary!"

"Yes, and Eli could be in here as well!" she pointed out.

"That doesn't matter! It's an invasion of privacy going through it!"

"But this could tell us if she's still interested in Eli or not; she's not going to open up to me anytime soon and we've waited a couple of weeks for things to change and _nothing_."

"It's still her diary!"

"We'll only read all the entries she's made since she and Jake broke up; that way we're not going into her thoughts about Eli before their breakup and all her drama with her friends and parents and stuff."

Fiona huffed, seeing Imogen's point but conflicted as to whether or not they should take this course of action.

"She's going to notice it's missing."

"Not if we get it back in her room before the day's out."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"We'll figure it out; but we can't waste any more time. Are we doing this or not?"

Fiona looked between Imogen and the book before sighing and walking to the couch.

"We only look at the entries that involve Eli and nothing else."

"Deal," Imogen agreed before sitting next to her on the couch.

Trying to hide her enthusiasm, Imogen opened the diary and began flipping through its pages. Fiona sat by her side, looking around them as though someone was spying on them and could catch them in an act of crime.

"Okay, here's the entry she wrote a few weeks after she and Jake broke up," Imogen stated before reading it aloud.

_"Dear Diary, I know I dated Jake for a long time, but I'm suddenly beginning to look back on our relationship and I'm realizing a few things. Our relationship did not start out on much. We made out and, over time, we got to know each other and grew comfortable, but not much other than that. We did connect and we have things in common, but –."_

"I thought we weren't going to read anything that involved Jake," Fiona interrupted.

"We're almost there," Imogen reassured before continuing. "_We did connect and we have things in common, but starting over with him as my stepbrother was wrong and I lost my best friend because of it. _Oh, that is so sad."

"Imogen!"

"Sorry. _I can't turn back time, but I don't know how make things right; I have the feeling that saying sorry won't be enough. On top of that, I have a feeling that I haven't since I saw Jake shirtless in our kitchen months back."_

"What?" Fiona exclaimed.

"Juicy," Imogen purred. "We can always go back to that entry."

"No," she protested, trying to stay on track. "We're doing this for Eli; not to find out everything about Clare's love life."

Imogen said "okay" before proceeding with the read:

_"It's that feeling you get when a crush starts forming. It's bittersweet because I know I feel something and I don't know what. _See, she's beginning to like someone."

"But how do we know it's Eli?"

"Only one way to find out," she grinned mischievously before turning the page. "She wrote this one a few days after that. _Dear Diary, I know for a fact I'm beginning to like someone. I really don't want to, but I can't fight how I'm feeling. I've tried telling myself that I'm just trying to rebound from Jake, but I don't know. We broke up over a month ago and all my romantic feelings for him are gone. I don't know why, but I just started feeling something for this guy. Part of me just wants to leave all feelings in the past, but part of me wants to chase this._

_"But it's a bad idea. He won't be interested in me. We've gone out before and it did not end the way he wanted it, so maybe he's just forgotten all about me. Maybe it will be better that way. The last time I gave someone a second chance, it did not end well._

"Okay, she _has _to be talking about Eli."

"She has to be," Fiona agreed. "They've gone out before _and_ she ended their relationship."

"Exactly."

"What do the other entries say?" she inquired, seeing how this may help them.

Imogen skimmed over a few pages to see if there was anything to mention about her feelings for someone. She paused however when she saw her name included in a short entry.

"Hello!"

"What? What?" Fiona coaxed.

"Listen to this!" Imogen squealed with a smile. "_Dear Diary, __Imogen is starting to hang out with me. I'm really surprised. She told me that she was not interested in Eli anymore and she was a new special person in her life. _That would be you," she added to Fiona, who blushed slightly. _"I guess that's a good thing, but the last thing I need is a reminder of HIM!"_

"Him?" Fiona repeated. "_Him_? As in _Eli_ him?"

"What other 'him' could she be talking about? She _so _likes him!"

"Of course she does!"

Imogen turned to the next page and her jaw dropped.

"Oh . . . my . . . God . . ."

"What?" Fiona asked.

"Listen to this: _Dear Diary, __I dreamt of Eli last night. I'm not quite sure what to think of it. We were about to make love –."_

"Stop!" Fiona interjected. "We can't read that!"

"Why not?" Imogen protested. "Wouldn't you like to know what makes her tick?"

"Yeah, but we can't about her and Eli having sex."

"We'll be the only ones who'll know that we've read it," she reassured her. "What Clare doesn't know won't hurt her."

Fiona groaned in defeat and Imogen continued.

_"I remember that my hands were bound to the headboard of a bed and my entirely naked body was under some thin sheets. I was, surprisingly, very calm. I was excited even . . . I was aroused. My heart was racing fast as he came into the room that was dark except for the bed, which seemed to be made of light. Eli walked to the bed, only in his jeans. He climbed under the sheets and his eyes were locked with mine. His jeans and boxers seemed to magically vanish and I felt his hardened length on my thigh. I moaned as he put his lips to my neck and traced my bellybutton with his finger._

"Well, well, well," Imogen said. "Miss Edwards."

"Keep going," Fiona urged.

Imogen looked at Fiona, surprised at her request but heeded it anyway.

_"'Do you love me?' he whispered huskily into my ear. I could not answer at first; I was breathing so hard and I was dying for him to enter me. He traced his knuckles down my inner thigh and I started to squirm beneath him as he repeated the question. 'Do you love me?'_

_"'Y-Yes,' I stammered, craving for him to do more. My wish fulfilled, he kissed my mouth and I tasted him for the first time in so long. It was so real that I had completely forgotten that it was a dream. He kissed down my neck, my chest, my stomach, and my hips. When he got to my thighs, I was hoping that he would give care to my –."_

"Whoa! Who would've known that Saint Clare thought _that_?" Fiona exclaimed. Imogen nodded before picking up at the beginning of the next sentence.

_"He abandoned my lower region and swooped back up to kiss my lips again._

_"'Let's start over.'_

_"Before I could answer, however, he sunk his teeth into my neck. Chills ran through my spine as his bite left a mark on my skin. Once he released my neck, he kissed my shoulder._

_"'You are gorgeous.'_

_"'E-Eli," I gasped as he traveled his lips up my arm and to the rope that bound my right arm. He used his teeth to tear the restraint away and he repeated the motions by kissing my other arm and releasing my other hand. Once they were free, I was able to dig my hands into his hair and bring his lips to mine._

_"'Make love to me, Eli,' I begged of him._

_"'If you wish,' he whispered to me. He kissed me again, but then my alarm clock rang and I woke up. _Damn, right before the good stuff too. _It has been on my mind all day and I can't seem to shake it. I avoided Eli more than usual today because I was so embarrassed for reasons I do not understand. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be over this dream and I can keep moving on."_

"Well, well, well," Fiona sang. "What do you make of that?"

"I think Clare Edwards has more than a crush on our little Eli."

Fiona nodded, still in shock that Clare had a dream like that. They kept reading the book, but hardly any of the other entries were as interesting as the dream she had. Most of the other pages did not have much written on them; they only included brief sentences such as _Just when I think I could forget, I'm reminded of him _or _Why can't he stay out of my head_? Although the passages weren't interesting or in depth, they were still significant; they were telling the girls that Clare still had feelings for Eli, thus it was important information to remember.

"She wrote this one just last night," Imogen informed her before reading the final page. _"Dear Diary, I just can't forget about him. It's stupid and crazy, but he never leaves my head. I even dream about him. We don't talk anymore, we only pass each other in the halls, and I know it's probably never going to happen anyway. Maybe the sooner I forget about it, the better_."

"Okay, that's all the proof we need," Fiona said, relieved to know that they weren't on some wild goose chase. "Eli can deny it all he wants, but he still has feelings for her; and her feelings for him are there in black and white. I mean, if she feels _that much_ for him there's no way those feelings are going to disappear overnight."

"Now all we need to do is get them together. Our first order of business, figuring out how we could get them talking."

"Uh, that's more like our _second_ order of business. The first one is to get Clare's diary back into her room before she realizes it's missing."

"Right," Imogen said. "And . . . how are we going to do that?"

* * *

That entry with Eli and Clare was the first time I wrote something that smutty, so I would appreciate feedback on that. Reviews, please?


	5. Chapter 5

Okay guys, INCREDIBLE REVIEWS! Thank you all! And you guys want more Fimogen? Well, damn it, I'm going to give it to you! I promise to try to balance the Fimogen and EClare stuff, but I'm really new to Fimogen writing, so I'll see what I can do. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

* * *

Chapter Five

The two of them went to Clare's house that night, hoping that she would not be in her room. The two of them climbed a tree that led to one of the bedrooms and hoped to sneak in, go to Clare's room, put the diary back, and then retreat as quickly and swiftly as possible. When they got there, however, they looked through the window and saw Jake sleeping quietly in his room. They knew it was too much of a risk; they could get caught and their plot would be exposed for sure. Before either of them could climb out of the tree, they heard Clare shouting.

"JAKE!"

Worried that the two of them would be caught, they scooted farther back into the tree until the leaves blocked them from view. Seconds after, Clare barged into Jake's room, her hands on her hips and her face reddening. They could hear the whole conversation through the open window and neither of them had seen Clare any madder.

"Wake up, Jake!"

"What?" he groaned.

"Where's is it?"

"Where's what?" he asked, opening his eyes a bit.

"My diary! Where is it?" she repeated.

"You have a diary?"

"I told you when we were together that I wrote about you in there!" Clare hollered, disbelieved that she had to explain this to him again.

"Oh yeah," he said tiredly. "I don't have it."

"Come on!"

"I don't have it, Clare," he repeated, turning on his side.

"Well, I've torn my room apart and I can't find it anywhere."

"Did you look in your bag?"

"Yes."

"Downstairs?"

"Yes."

"Bathroom?"

"Jake, I've looked _everywhere_."

"Did you take it to school?"

"And risk someone finding it? No way!"

"Well, I'm sure it's there if you just keep looking."

"I've been looking!"

"Well, then take a break for a minute and clear your head."

"I can't!" she screeched. "Someone could be reading it! They could know about things I don't want others to know! They could be reading my dream about –."

She stopped herself, not realizing that she had gone this far. Imogen and Fiona looked at each other and smirked, knowing that she was recalling that dream she had about Eli.

"Dream about what?" Jake asked her.

"Nothing. Fine, I'll go take a breather," she groaned before stomping away and slamming the door behind her.

Imogen and Fiona let out a breath of air, relieved that Clare was out of the room. They continued kneeling in the tree, trying to climb out.

"Okay, let's get out of here."

"What about the diary?" Imogen whispered.

"We'll worry about that later; we have to move."

"I can't," Imogen said. "My legs are stuck."

They had been squatting in this position for at least ten minutes, so Imogen's legs were locked in this position and it caused her knees to hurt and her thighs to seize up.

"Just stretch them a bit."

Imogen looked down and saw a branch one step below. She braced herself for mild pain as she brought one of her legs down.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" she flinched as her leg stretched out.

"Are you okay?"

"Pain," she said, bringing her leg back up and trying to massage her ache out of her thigh.

"What are you two doing here?"

Surprised and terrified, the couple looked up and saw Jake leaning out the window and talking to them.

"Uh . . . we, uh . . ." Imogen struggled, looking to Fiona for help.

"Wanted to say hi," Fiona lied, knowing that was probably the worst excuse in the book.

Jake raised his eyebrows, not believing the girls. It was then that his eyes met the book in Imogen's hands.

"What's that?" he asked, connecting the dots.

"Nothing," she said.

He squinted at it through the darkness. Although he had never read Clare's diary, he knew that this was the book he was looking at.

"Is that Clare's diary?"

"W-Well . . ." Imogen stammered. It was strange; she was usually very good under pressure, but now she was sinking.

"What are you two doing with Clare's diary?" he exclaimed, amazed that these two girls – who he believed to be innocent – were stealing Clare's private book.

"We can explain," Fiona said.

"Tell me," he demanded, wanting to know what possessed them to do this.

"It's a long story."

"Make it fast," Jake permitted.

"We don't have to tell you anything," Fiona said.

"Oh yeah?" he said, crossing his arms and glaring at them. "Do you want me to tell Clare that you two have her diary? If I'm not mistaking . . ." He trailed off for a second to turn his eyes to Imogen. "You two are good friends now."

Imogen and Fiona looked at each other, not seeing how they were going to get out of this. They swallowed the lumps growing in their throats before spilling everything to Jake. They told him about how Eli's been acting lonely, how they believe that the two of them have feelings for each other but neither would admit it, and everything else except for what was in Clare's diary.

". . . But she wouldn't tell me anything, so I took her diary and we read it so we can figure out if she likes Eli or not," Imogen concluded.

"And does she?" Jake asked them.

"We think so," Imogen answered.

Jake licked his top lips and looked down at the ground, deep in thought. After seconds of silence, he looked back up and stared at the girls.

"Okay, if you want me to tell Clare you guys did not take her diary, I want in."

"Hu?" the two girls chorused, not being able to believe their ears.

"I want in," Jake repeated.

Imogen and Fiona looked at each other, surprised at what they had just heard. Jake Martin, Clare's ex, now wanted to help them get her back together with another ex? It was astounding to them to say the least.

"You want to help us?" Imogen said.

"Yes," Jake answered.

"Why?" Fiona asked.

Jake looked over his shoulder to be sure Clare was not coming back before turning back to them and answering.

"After Clare and Eli broke up, it did not take long for her to want to start dating me," he began. "Either that means that she never really cared about him or she wanted to feel happy again with someone she had a crush on."

"And what do you think it was?"

"I've lived with Clare long enough to know that she did care about Eli when they were together, and she still does and that's why she wants to stay out of his way. She doesn't want to push any of his buttons with the bipolar thing."

"He's doing _a lot_ better now," Fiona spat, not realizing how Clare could not see that.

"But remember, _she_ was there when he crashed his car, wrote the play, and tried to sabotage our relationship; it's going to be a lot harder for her to accept that he's better and that she won't do anything to make him lose it."

"Makes sense," Imogen said before turning to Fiona. "I think he might be able to help, Fi."

"How?" she demanded, having an unsettling feeling about allowing Jake to help them.

"I live with Clare and we used to date," Jake began. "If anyone can get inside her head and get her to spill her secrets, it's me."

"That sounds like a horrible thing to do to your sister."

"It's better than stealing her diary," he mentioned.

"He's got a point," Imogen said, her face flushing.

"But how do we know you're just not going to tell Clare what we're doing?"

"She won't believe me," he informed them. "She doesn't really think anyone other than Eli would go through a lot of stuff just to get people back together."

Fiona rolled her lips, considering the chance they had in front of them.

"Okay, you're in," she accepted. "But you need to be dedicated."

"Alright," Jake agreed.

"And if they find out what we're doing because of you, you will be sorry," Imogen threatened.

"Deal," he said, not wanting to see the revenge techniques of Imogen Moreno. "Now, the diary."

Imogen gave the diary back to Jake, hoping that he would never read the contents of this book.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said.

"See you," Imogen and Fiona said in unison before he closed his window.

()()

"That was too close," Fiona sighed as they got back to her place.

"Yeah," Imogen agreed, sitting down on the sofa. "I love Eli and all, but I am _not _going that far for him again."

"I know," she said, sitting next to her. "From now on, we just observe and go."

"But . . ." Imogen smiled, trying to think positively. She put her arm around Fiona and looked at her with a glint in her eye. "At least that diary gave us some info."

"True," Fiona agreed. "Now we just have to play that to our advantage."

"And now we have an accomplice who knows Clare very well."

"Exactly," she smiled. "So what should we do next?"

"I don't know; maybe Jake can give us a few ideas."

"Hopefully," Fiona nodded, seeing just how useful Jake could be in this mission.

Imogen began to yawn and stretch her arms.

"Tired?" Fiona asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "All this snooping has worn me out."

She got to her feet and picked up her bag.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

She then leaned down to give Fiona a kiss on the lips, wishing that she did not have to leave. Fiona kissed her back, placing her hand on the nape of her neck in the process. She deepened the kiss and Imogen reciprocated; as they kissed, Fiona desperately wished for Imogen to stay with her . . . stay with her for tonight . . . stay with her forever.

She took her free hand and pulled her back down onto the couch. Imogen did not resist and sat next to Fiona, continuing to kiss her until they ran out of breath. They separated and took in some air, smiling at each other.

"Do you want to stay over?" she asked.

"Really? You want me to stay?" Imogen asked.

"Yeah," Fiona nodded. "My bed's big enough for the both of us."

Imogen smiled at the invitation, loving the idea of sharing a bed with her girlfriend.

"Give me two seconds to call my dad?"

"Alright," Fiona said, standing up from the couch. "I'll find you something to sleep in."

"Thank you," Imogen said before she pulled out her phone.

Minutes later, Imogen was in a pair Fiona's blue silk pajamas while Fiona wore her black flannel ones.

"You look nice in those," Fiona complimented as Imogen and her got underneath the covers.

"Thanks," Imogen smiled with a small blush before she took off her glasses. Fiona could not help but stare at Imogen's chocolate brown eyes.

"I love your eyes," she told her.

Imogen blushed again and kissed Fiona's lips.

"I love your lips."

Fiona grinned and the two of them lied down on the mattress. Imogen rested her head on the front of Fiona's shoulder as she held her waist; Imogen loved being held by Fiona and she was so glad that she would be spending this night in her arms.

"Goodnight," she sighed.

"Goodnight," Fiona replied before kissing Imogen's head. They both fell asleep, content as they fell asleep in their girlfriend's arms.

* * *

I promise to put in more Fimogen soon; I just have to figure out how. Reviews please?


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you everyone for your reviews! I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this! Here's the newest chapter. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

* * *

Chapter Six

"Good morning, ladies," Jake greeted as he walked towards Fiona and Imogen the next morning.

"Hello, accomplice," Imogen greeted as she closed her locker. "Did Clare get her diary back?"

"She did," he nodded, shuddering at the memory. "I told her that I accidentally picked it up when I was in her room since it was with a few of my books."

"So she doesn't know we took it?" Fiona clarified.

"Not even a little. But . . . I think she's mad at me."

"Sorry," Imogen said, not wanting Jake to get into any trouble.

"No worries," he shrugged. "As long as we get her back together with Eli, everything will be cool."

"That's the spirit," Imogen smiled.

"So, what do we do next?"

"We have no idea," Fiona confessed.

"You guys are just going with the flow, aren't you?" he assumed, seeing that they never really did have a solid plan.

"Well . . . we wanted to find out if they still have feelings for each other," Imogen reviewed.

"And you guys think Clare still likes Eli because of what was in her diary," Jake said. "What about Eli?"

"He says that he doesn't have feelings for her, but I think he's in denial about it," Fiona explained.

"Okay, so what are you guys thinking of doing after he finally admits it?"

"Not quite sure. Maybe we'll set them up or get them talking or something."

"But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Imogen said.

"So, do you have any ideas on what we should do in the meantime?"

"We might want to act normal and keep this on the DL," Jake suggested.

"How so?"

"Imogen, you should go hang out with Clare; it'll be suspicious if you suddenly stop hanging out with her the day after her diary went missing."

Imogen nodded and left, leaving Fiona behind without a word; she did not even say goodbye like she usually would have. Fiona would not admit it aloud, but she felt heartbroken; she knew that she and Imogen were together and that they cared for each other, but why would she run away to Clare without a single word? If she had to be honest with herself, she felt a bit neglected; it kind of hurt to see her girlfriend run off to be with another girl she was not particularly close to. Now the two of them would be laughing, talking, and going down the halls together. Fiona thought she would never live to see that day when she would be jealous of Clare Edwards.

"What are we going to do?" Fiona asked Jake.

"Well, I'm going to get to class and plan ahead for our next step."

"Alright," she accepted, too disheartened to care about what Jake did. "I'll try talking to Eli once he gets here."

"Cool," he said. "I'll see you around."

Jake walked away, leaving Fiona to stand there all by herself. She understood why Imogen and Jake had to leave, but why did it still upset her so? She knew Imogen could not spend all the time in the world by her side, but why did she still feel abandoned? She wondered if Imogen even knew that she was hurting. She would never ask her, for she did not want to turn Imogen into the bad guy when she could not resolve her feelings. She sighed, wishing for the unnecessary ache to go away.

"Why so glum, chum?" Eli asked, suddenly appearing next to her. "Girlfriend trouble?"

"No . . . just . . ."

"She's hanging out with Clare again?" Eli assumed; he had noticed Imogen sitting with Clare at lunch, although he did not know why. At first he thought it was because she and Fiona had a fight, but they were always lovey-dovey in class, so he knew that was not a possibility. He asked Fiona why Imogen suddenly started hanging out with Clare; he did not have an easy feeling about it, considering Imogen's history with Clare. Fiona assured him that Imogen was just trying to stitch up old wounds; of course, she did not include the part how Imogen was trying to acquire information from Clare about her feelings for Eli.

"Yeah, but . . . no big deal," she said as she began walking down the hallway, Eli right by her side.

"Oh no," he sighed. "I recognize that tone anywhere."

"What tone?"

"That tone you get when you feel like you've been neglected, hurt, betrayed even though nothing was really done, and you feel like someone you care about stabbed you in the back while the little green monster known as jealously takes shotgun on your shoulder."

Fiona was surprised. He had described her feelings perfectly even though he was just overlooking.

"You're good."

"I'm experienced," he shrugged as they stepped into their classroom.

"Oh yeah," she said, recalling how much agony Eli felt when he saw Clare with Jake and when she did not want anything to do with him. "How did you get over it?"

"Time, mostly," he shrugged. "You know what they say: time heals everything."

As the two of them sat down, Fiona began thinking about what Eli said. Did he mean that once she got used to seeing Imogen spending time with Clare she would feel better? Did he mean that the feeling would pass if she kept her mouth shut? It was not until she had been sitting for five minutes did she realize the underlying truth in Eli's statement. He had time and it was because of that time that he was healed.

He was not in denial. He was not lying to Fiona. He was telling the complete truth.

"You're really over Clare, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've been telling you that for weeks."

"I really thought . . ."

"That I still liked her?"

She nodded.

"Last year you said part of you would always love her."

He shrugged.

"Deep down, I probably do; I just can't afford to have that in my head all the time."

"I don't get you; if you're choosing not to like her, why don't you go out with someone else?"

"I don't like rebounding; plus, after what happened with Imogen, I don't think I'll be asking any girls out any time soon."

Although Fiona was disappointed that she was wrong about his feelings towards Clare, she felt more pain for Eli. He was really that low on hope to maintain a relationship that he was not willing to take a chance with anyone.

"Eli, do you want to be with anyone?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I mean, I liked the feeling I had when I was with Julia, Clare, even Imo, but . . . I'm not so sure if they're worth all the heartache, you know?"

"That's part of life, Eli. You're going to get hurt, but one day you will find that girl who is right for you and you will be happy."

"And how many more heartbreaks and possible meltdowns do I have to go through until that happens?" he asked, looking right at her.

Fiona did not respond, although she understood why he felt that way. With one of his girlfriend's dying, the other shattering his heart, and the recent one seeing him at his worst for so long, she could comprehend why he did not wish to jump back in to dating. Once she came to this realization, she instantly felt guilty about going behind his back to get him back with Clare. If he was not ready, he was not ready; it was even more wrong for her to do this to him if he was not interested in the girl he was with not long ago.

"Can I ask you something?" he suddenly asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Sure," she shrugged, wondering which road this question would lead them down.

"Do you love her? Imogen?"

Fiona did not answer immediately. In truth, she was not a hundred percent certain how to feel about Imogen. She loved being in her company, she loved spending time with her, and she loved talking to her, but she was not sure if she loved her girlfriend or not.

"Why do you want to know?"

"You guys are my best friends and I just don't want to see one of you get hurt."

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning to Eli.

Eli rolled his lips and looked down at his hands, wishing that he did not bring up this question.

"When Clare and I broke up, I still loved her for a long time and it took me forever to get over her. Once I figured out she would not feel the same way about me as I felt about her, I knew it was time for me to move on. I don't . . . I don't want one of you to feel that way if something happens to you two."

Fiona swallowed a growing lump in her throat, having an idea as to what Eli was implying but not wanting it to be true.

"Eli . . . are you saying Imogen loves me?"

"I'm not saying that," he said, turning his head to his textbook.

"Goldsworthy," she said, grabbing his shoulder until he had no choice but to look at her. "Did Imogen tell you that she loves me?"

"Not directly, but I can tell."

"So she does?"

"I don't know! I'm just saying, if she tells you and you don't feel the same . . . just be gentle when you tell her."

"You know I'm the last person who would ever want to hurt Imogen."

"I know that," Eli argued. "I just don't want one of you going through what I went through."

All through homeroom, Fiona kept dwelling on Eli's words. She knew that he meant well, but ever since he hinted the Imogen loved her, she felt quite uneasy. She did care for Imogen, but she could not be sure if she her feelings could be classified as love. It was complicated to figure out, considering she had been brokenhearted many times and she was a bit timid to risk letting the L word slip.

What scared her, however, was how she would tell Imogen that if she ever revealed her feelings to Fiona. She did not want to hurt her, but the only way she would not be hurt was if Fiona reciprocated the same feelings. She did not want to lie to Imogen, but she could not break her heart like that. This was not something that she could push to the side until the time came to figure it out; she had to give this thought, so she had to let one certain part of her life go.

She knew that she could not help Eli with his relationships if she was feeling so anxious with her own; besides, Eli did not want to be helped, so she felt it was better if she simply leave Clare and Eli's relationship to fate and try her best to manage her relationship with Imogen.

"Hey!" a happy voice yelped as Fiona began walking down the hall. She turned around and saw Imogen running towards her, a smile on her face. "I have something to tell you."

"I have something to tell you too," Fiona said.

"You go first."

"I've been thinking, maybe we should ease off on this plan to get Eli and Clare back together."

"Why?" Imogen asked.

"Because I talked to Eli during homeroom; he doesn't want to get hurt again and he knows that it will probably happen when he's with Clare."

"Maybe he just –."

"No, no maybes," Fiona said bluntly. "It's over. We can't meddle in his life when he's finally doing okay; if he wants to be with her again, he'll take care of it."

"But Fi –."

"It's not our place," she finalized.

Fiona expected Imogen to sigh and accept that this was the end. Unfortunately, that was not what occurred.

"Well, I wish you told me that sooner," Imogen said, a guilty glint in her eye.

"What do you mean?" Fiona asked, slightly panicked.

"Um . . . Jake and I kind of put a small plan into action."

Fiona's eyes widened, dreading to think what kind of plan those could have concocted.

"What kind of plan?"

"We kind of . . . put a note in her locker from a secret admirer who wants to have dinner with her this Friday."

"Imogen!" Fiona nearly screamed.

"I'm sorry," Imogen squeaked. "Clare told me that things like that are romantic, so I thought that maybe we could arrange Eli to be there and then –."

"That stuff does not work! You should know that!" she snapped, recalling how she made the attempt to set up Imogen and Eli.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"I can't believe you!"

"Fiona –."

"And why did you and Jake do this without me? _You _and _I _started this; Jake wasn't even on our side twenty-four hours ago."

"I just thought that maybe this would help."

Fiona was furious. She was already on edge because she had to walk on eggshells for Imogen so she would not break her heart if she told her she loved her, but now that she pulled this stunt, she completely lost it.

"Has she seen the note?"

Imogen nodded, her heart hurting as tears stung her eyes.

"Perfect," Fiona barked sarcastically. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Maybe if we talk to Eli and tell him –."

"Imogen, there's no 'we'."

Without another word, Fiona moved passed her and walked down the hall.

* * *

Reviews, please?


	7. Chapter 7

OH MY ROWLING! You guys are the best! Thank you everyone for your reviews, subscriptions, etc.! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Okay, odds are that this story will be ten to fifteen chapters, but that's just for now; it depends if I think of more to add. Alright, here's the next chapter. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

* * *

Chapter Seven

Shaking, Imogen went straight to the girl's bathroom. She tried to just walk at a fast pace instead of running, but ultimately she was moving as quickly as possible until she was in the bathroom. She noticed Katie Matlin and Marisol Lewis standing there talking, but they instantly averted their attention to Imogen. These two had always picked on her because of how different she was, but she had learned to live with it. Today, however, she was not in the mood to deal with ridicule. Trying not to cry, she shoved passed the girls and went into a stall.

She wanted to cry, but she knew that doing that with those two out there would just give them the ammunition they needed to attack her. She leaned against the locked door, wishing that Katie and Marisol would leave soon so she could bawl her eyes out. Imogen took in many breaths in hope that they would evacuate the bathroom so she could be alone.

"What's the matter with her?" she heard Marisol say, not really bothering to keep her voice down too low.

"Who knows," Katie said. "She and Fiona probably got into a fight."

"Ha! Well, I guess that's . . ."

Marisol trailed off, although Imogen did not know why; she did not care, either. With the state she was in, she did even want to find out what Marisol had to say. What Imogen did not know, however, was that another person had come into the bathroom. Clare crossed her arms as she stood behind Katie and Marisol; as they saw her reflection in the mirror, they turned around and saw how angry her expression was.

"Get out," she told them.

"Why?" Katie demanded; she and Clare were still not exactly seeing eye-to-eye ever since Katie went on a date with Jake and set her up to spend time with Eli although they had a bad breakup. "All students are allowed to use the bathrooms."

"You're not using the bathroom," Clare corrected. "You're standing around and gossiping about people."

"We can talk in here if we want," Marisol sneered, crossing her arms.

"Alright, then I'm sure you won't mind me telling Simpson how you two spend all your free time in here talking about students when you're supposed to be doing things for Student Council."

The girls glared at Clare, knowing that she had struck a nerve. Displeased, they shoved passed her and then left the restroom. Certain that the bathroom was clear, Clare walked up to the stall that Imogen was hiding in and knocked.

"Imogen? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Imogen lied, tears not coming out of her eyes. She took off her glasses and tried rubbing her eyes so the tears would retreat.

"Do you want to talk?"

"N-No. I'm fine."

"Come on, you and I both know that's the biggest lie in the world."

Imogen was about to respond when an involuntary sob escaped her lips. This surprised and worried Clare; she never figured that Imogen would be a crier, at least not in a public place. Hoping that it would be able to help, she decided that it was time for her to show Imogen that she had her trust; she hoped that by showing that. Imogen could see that Clare was on her side and could be someone to depend on.

"You know you can talk to me, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Imogen replied.

"Well, whenever you want to come out and talk to me about it, you can."

Imogen felt her lips twitch at the corners; pleased that Clare was offering. At the same time, Clare's kindness caused a bit of guilt to form in Imogen's stomach; she had plotted behind her back, stole her diary, and made the attempt to control her love life. Due to this, Imogen did not believe that she deserved Clare's console; however, she was hurting and she was desperate for someone to help her. On most occasions, she would have gone to Fiona, but that was clearly not an option. Eli would have been her second choice, but he was a boy and probably would not understand completely. Clare was the only one she had left.

Taking a deep breath, Imogen came out of the stall to see Clare leaning against the stall across from this one. She put her glasses back on again before turning to Clare.

"Fiona and I had a fight."

"What?" Clare said, raising her eyebrows. Imogen spoke of Fiona often and, as far as she knew, the two of them were not having any kind of problems, so now that they were suddenly fighting out of the blue shocked Clare.

"I think we're over," Imogen informed her, choking on her words.

"Imogen, Fiona cares about you," Clare comforted her. "She wouldn't let you go because of one small fight."

"She said that there's no 'we'. What else is that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe you two should just talk and try to work this out."

"I don't know."

"Okay, is this your first fight?"

Imogen nodded.

"Well, you guys can't let one fight ruin your relationship."

"I don't want it to, but she probably hates me."

"Why?"

Imogen knew that she could not reveal what happened without getting Jake and Fiona into trouble, and that was the last thing she needed to do was give her girlfriend – possibly ex-girlfriend – another reason to despise her. Taking a breath, she faced Clare as she prepared to tell her yet another lie.

"She and I . . . we had different ideas about something and she got really mad and . . . I think she broke up with me."

"You think?" Clare repeated.

Imogen nodded in reply, her heart breaking that her relationship Fiona had probably seen its last days.

"I-I don't know what to do."

"Do you love her?" Clare asked, hoping that the answer would be yes; if it was, she would know how to encourage Imogen to fight for Fiona. To her happiness and relief, Imogen nodded. "Well, then don't give up on her. Just wait for her to calm down a little then try talking to her. After that, you guys should smooth things over, put this behind you, and then continue on."

"It's not going to be that simple," Imogen said, knowing that it was going to take some effort for them to fix what they did. "We messed up a few things."

"But isn't it worth a shot? I mean, do you think you guys would be able to fix what happened? You always tell me that you two work better as a team."

That was true; throughout this whole scheme to get Eli and Clare back together, they always planned together and each of them was able to contribute to a certain extent. They may not have gotten far because Eli was actually over Clare, who was simply made of stone, but they were together all the while and they knew that they never would have gotten this far on their own.

"You're right," she admitted. "I just hope she understands what I did."

"I'm sure she will; just give her time."

After replaying the conversation in her head, Imogen turned to her friend and grinned.

"Thanks, Clare."

"No problem."

Without warning, Imogen began hugging Clare; although slightly surprised, Clare reciprocated the hug since Imogen clearly needed it. For the first time in a while, Imogen Moreno felt safe and comforted; and, although she wished it was Fiona giving her this hug, she was happy that Clare was there for her.

As Imogen thought this, Fiona silently stepped into the bathroom. When she saw Imogen hanging on to Clare, her heart broke and she quickly retreated, not wanting to see anymore.

()()

Fiona was furious and full of jealously all the way into lunch. She and Eli sat at their usual table as she watched Imogen sit with Clare. She noticed how Imogen kept glancing over at her, but she was too enraged to care about the pain in her eyes. She was still upset at Imogen for going behind her back to put a secret admirer note in Clare's locker, but what hurt her more was that Imogen kept clinging to Clare. It was frustrating and she was tired of Clare getting all of Imogen's attention; it had been like this for a while for the sake of their plan, but now it was getting personal and she found it revolting.

"Fiona? Fiona? _Fiona!_"

"What?" she snapped at Eli, turning her eyes to him.

"Haven't you heard a word I've been saying?" he asked her.

"Sorry, Eli, I have stuff on my mind."

"That 'stuff' wouldn't be Imogen, would it?"

Not wanting to discuss _her_, Fiona glared down at the food on her tray. All day, Eli had noticed how the couple did not speak and they did not exchange friendly stares as they did on a daily basis. The tension was starting to get to him, considering he could not stand seeing people he cared about being cold towards each other.

"That's it, what is going on with you two?" he demanded of Fiona. "Usually you guys would be all lovey-dovey, but now you guys are acting like you hate each other. What is the deal?"

"None of your business," she nearly shouted. She would not admit it out loud, but she could not help but blame Eli for what happened today; she could not help but think that if maybe he did move on from Clare or something, she and Imogen would not have felt the need to help them and this whole mess could have been avoided.

"Okay," Eli said, raising his hands up in surrender.

"Fiona."

The two of them turned their heads and saw Imogen standing at their table.

"Can we talk?"

"No," she said simply, looking her eyes returning to the table.

"Come on, please? Just for a minute?"

"Why don't you go talk to Clare?"

"Fi, we need to talk and you know it. I know we had our first fight, but –."

"Leave me alone, Imogen!" Fiona barked, glaring at her.

Eli wanted to move, but his legs were made of lead and he did not know if it would be wise to leave in case one of them needed to be held back. Instead, he sat there and hoped that he was just imaging the tears that were in Imogen's eyes.

"Why won't you talk to me?" she asked.

"For one, because you and Jake went behind my back!"

"What?" Eli exclaimed, not seeing what Jake Martin had to do with this situation.

"Not like that," Fiona clarified, knowing that he thought some form of cheating was involved.

Eli, although relieved that Imogen did not cheat on Fiona with Jake, was still highly confused as to what was happening right before his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Imogen said. "I'd fix it if I could, but –."

Not wanting to hear anymore, Fiona sharply stood up from her seat.

"Don't talk to me! Go talk to your new girlfriend!"

"It's not like that! And we would not be in this situation if it wasn't for you and your stupid idea!" Imogen reminded Fiona, the hurt starting to get to her.

"It wasn't just my idea!"

"Alright!" Eli hollered, standing up and stepping in the middle to act as some sort of barrier. "What the hell is going on with you two? And what are you talking about? And what does Jake have to do with this?"

"Butt out, Eli!"

"This isn't his fault," Imogen said, defending him.

"You're right, it's yours!" Fiona said, only half aware of what she was saying as the anger erupted out of her. "If you didn't come along last year and get together with him at the beginning of this year, he could still have feelings for Clare!"

"Hold it!" Eli screamed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The girls ignored him and continued their argument.

"Don't put this on me! You were the one who set us up in the first place because you were too afraid to tell me how you felt!"

"THAT'S IT!" Eli yelled as loud as he could. "Whatever is going on is not worth you two fighting like this, so come clean right now!"

Fiona and Imogen looked down at their shoes, knowing that it was time to fix what they had done. It was clear that their plan was nothing more than a waste of time and that all it did was cause them pain, so it was time that they gave an explanation for their behavior to Eli; he deserved to know, considering he was the one who had put up with Imogen's sudden absence from their lunch table and they basically pried in a place they did not belong. Hoping that he would not hate them after this, they looked at each other and then to Eli. Fiona sighed, not prepared on how to give this explanation.

"We . . . we thought that you were lonely . . . so . . . we figured that we should set you up with someone."

"What?" he exclaimed.

"You haven't been acting that happy lately," Imogen explained. "We thought that was because you didn't have a girlfriend, so we thought we would help you out."

"You were going to set me up with Clare, weren't you?" he then accused. He saw this as the only plausible explanation for why Imogen would start spending time with Clare.

"You guys are perfect for each other," Fiona said. "And we figured that since you were better now, you two would be able to handle a second relationship."

Eli let out a chuckle that did not have an ounce of humor in it; they both heard this laugh before and it scared them.

"I'm going to say this one more time to both of you: I'm over her!"

"We know," Fiona said. "And we were about to let it go, but . . ."

"We . . . I kind of . . ." Imogen began. "I put a note in her locker saying that a secret admirer was going to meet her for dinner."

Eli dropped his jaw slightly, disbelieved that his best friends had been doing this to him behind his back.

"Then what were you going to do? Lead me to her, we'd have dinner, fall in love again, and live happily-ever-after?"

"We don't know, but we were going to figure something out."

"I don't believe you two! You can't do that to someone! It took me forever to deal with our breakup and then you were just going to throw me back into it?"

"We're sorry, Eli."

"And you should know better than anyone that you shouldn't set me up with people!" he shouted at Fiona.

"We did not mean for –."

"Just . . . leave me alone! Both of you!"

Without another word, Eli picked up his bag and stormed out of the cafeteria, all eyes watching him as he went. Both of the girls looked at the ground, ashamed of themselves. They had hit rock bottom and they knew it . . . but what they did not know what that they were about to go below rock bottom and enter the depths of hell.

"You were going to set Eli up with me?"

The girls turned around and saw a shocked and hurt Clare Edwards. Imogen's heart fell; she had already lost Fiona and Eli today and she knew that she was about to lose Clare as well.

"Eventually," she admitted through her dry throat.

"And . . . you were the one who put the note in my locker?" Clare restated.

Imogen nodded, the pit in her stomach becoming deeper. Disbelieved and heavily disappointed, Clare unwound her arms and shook her head.

"And you were only hanging out with me to get me back together with Eli?"

"I didn't mean for either of you to –."

"I can't believe you would do that!"

"Clare, listen," Fiona stepped in. "We knew that you weren't over Eli, so –."

"How would you two know that?"  
Fiona and Imogen looked at each other, knowing that they had to come clean.

"We . . . read your diary and –," Imogen began.

"You what?" Clare snapped, her face reddening with animosity and embarrassment.

"We needed to know! Eli was unhappy and we figured that he would be happy again if he was with you."

"He's over me, Imogen! Everyone knows that!"

"We thought he was in denial," Fiona explained.

"He wasn't! He went out with you!" she said, facing Imogen. "He would not have done that unless he was over me."

"I don't believe that," Imogen stated.

"Well, you were wrong!"

Feeling taken advantage of and heartbroken that someone who she thought was a friend did this to her, Clare turned on her heel and left the cafeteria. She knew that Eli was over her, but hearing it escape his lips made it real and it broke the barrier she built for her tears. For the first time since her and Jake's breakup, she began to cry.

Back in the cafeteria, Fiona and Imogen looked at each other, unsure of how they could fix this . . . and their relationship.

"What do we do now?" Imogen asked.

"I don't know," Fiona said before turning away and also leaving the cafeteria, leaving Imogen standing there alone.

* * *

I wrote the majority of the chapter during a three hour car ride, which was great, because I didn't get distracted. So, if you ever need something to do during a car ride, write fanfiction; unless you can't read/write as you drive, then just enjoy the scenery you pass. Ha-ha. Reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you everyone for your amazing reviews, your feedback, everything! Thank you so much for it! So sorry it took so long for me to update; I've been busy and had a really bad block with this fic for a while. Here is the newest chapter! Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

* * *

Chapter Eight

Clare stood at her locker at the end of the end of the day, continuing to be fazed by what had happened that day. She was unable to focus on any of her schoolwork for the rest of the day because her fury was raging so much that she could not think straight. She stuffed all her books in her locker, furious that Imogen and Fiona did this to her; since she trusted Imogen and opened up to her, she was a bit more resentful towards her. On top of the anger, she felt hurt and empty. Although she knew it was unlikely due to their breakup and history, Clare always hoped that she and Eli would have gotten together again someday; today, however, her fears were confirmed when Eli announced to most of the student body that we was over her.

She was able to hold back her tears all day until she was going through her locker to retrieve her textbook when something caught her eye. Swallowing hard, she reached into the back of her locker and found her copy of _Fight Club_. She brought it with her a few days ago to have a good read, but now she wished that she put it in a box under her bed like she did with all her other reminders of Eli. This was her signed copy that Palahniuk left his mark on when she and Eli had their first date.

Enraged that the memory still affected her and that she still liked the boy who now resented her, she threw it back inside the locker and slammed its door. As soon as the book was out of sight, the tears finally came out of Clare's eyes; they poured out on to her face as so many emotions hit her in the heart.

She cried, not caring how many onlookers saw her. She heard a few remarks and sniggers, but it wasn't until someone put her hand on her shoulder until she really took notice of the world around her. She turned around, relieved to see that it was Jake; he looked at her with sympathetic eyes, pained to see his stepsister so upset.

"I heard about what happened it the caf. How are you feeling?"

She merely shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.

"Let's just go home."

Clare moved passed him, desperate to get as far away from Degrassi as possible. She dried her tears so neither Helen nor Glen would ask questions when she got home. By the time they were both in Jake's truck, the tears were no longer on her face, just in her heart.

"So . . . it's true then? You still like Eli?" Jake asked as they pulled off campus.

Clare felt the car become a bit uncomfortable, considering Jake was her ex-boyfriend and she was not quite sure how she felt about discussing other relationships with him. She was thankful when Jake did not ask again, but she did not quite appreciate it when he brought up another topic.

"Imogen and Fiona were just trying to help."

"Yeah, deceiving someone is a great way to do that," Clare scoffed sarcastically.

"Okay, maybe they could have gone about it a different way, but they were trying to make you and Eli happy."

"And how did this help anything? Eli and I could have been more when were both ready to be friends again, but now that can't happen."

"They thought that Eli still liked you. We thought that we were doing the right –."

"Whoa! Wait!" Clare interjected. "We?"

Jake cursed himself for slipping up like that and using the wrong pronoun, ergo giving his stepsibling a reason to be suspicious.

"Jake, what did you mean by 'we'?" she demanded.

He was silent, trying to weasel his way out of this predicament. He drove a bit farther down the road, attempting to ignore the glare his stepsister was giving him.

"_Jake_!"

He rolled his lips, wishing that he did not have to come clean while she was so heartbroken.

"Okay . . . Imogen and Fiona told me that they were trying to get you and Eli back together. You haven't been yourself lately, so . . . I thought that I would be good if I helped them out."

Clare's jaw dropped, astonished that he would go behind her back like Imogen and Fiona.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, blood curdling with rage.

"We wanted you to be happy."

"It was none of your business."

"Look, we didn't do that much."

"They stole my diary and put a phony love note in my locker."

"In their defense, Fiona wasn't involved with the note; Imogen only helped me with that a little."

Clare honestly thought she could not receive any more shocking news today, but it just kept on rolling in to her life. Not only was Jake involved with this plan, but he actually wrote a fake note for her? She could not believe that the people she trusted actually went to that extreme to meddle with her nonexistent relationship.

"So you and Imogen put the note in my locker and thought that it was okay?"

"We thought that you having dinner with Eli would be good for you."

Clare huffed, not seeing how this would be good for her or Eli. She was disgusted, she was enraged, and, overall, she was disappointed for an endless list of reasons. Although everything was so disarrayed in her head, she knew that she would not be able to stay in the company of those who betrayed her trust for one more second.

"Stop the car!" she ordered.

"Clare," he groaned.

"_Stop the car_!"

Rolling his eyes, Jake pulled over to the side of the road and turned to Clare as she began unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Come on, you're being ridiculous."

"I'm not the one playing matchmaker for two people who were better off alone."

She hastily climbed out of the car, slammed the door, and grabbed her books out of the bed of the truck before stomping onto the sidewalk. Jake began driving after her, going as slow as possible so he could talk to her as she walked and hopefully convince her not walk the rest of the way home.

"Listen, you have not been happy the last couple of months and we knew that you liked Eli, so we thought that this would help you be happy again."

"Yeah, finding out for sure that I'm not liked by someone I like is a great way to put a smile on my face," she said with acrimony.

"I'm sorry," he said to her. "I just hate seeing you upset."

"This didn't make things any better."

"I know, but please try to see where we were coming from; our hearts were in the right place."

Clare scoffed, trying to focus on the sidewalk instead of the car beside her.

"You and Imogen put that note in my locker and it got my hopes up!"

"We were just trying to help."

"I'm tired of you guys saying that! The fact of the matter is that it didn't help anyone! These things _never_ help anyone and now Eli and I are probably never going to be able to talk again because we would be too embarrassed! Thanks for the help!"

Wanting those to be the final words she said to Jake for some time, she began moving down the street as fast as she could. Her feet carried her down the street, determined not to look over her shoulder to see how far Jake was behind her. The thoughts began rolling through her head and all the memories of that day traveled to her heart. Everyone seemed to be plotting against her and did not seem to feel any guilt in invading her privacy. It hurt her and she felt deceived beyond words. By the time she got home, tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes. Although Jake was not home yet and Glen and Helen weren't there, she did not want to cry until she was in the comfort and security in her room.

Once in her room, she threw her stuff down before going straight to her bed. She lied there, finally being able to cry away all the pain inside her. Her tears stained her pillow as she realized that she was fooling herself all this time. For a while had been living on the small hope that she and Eli would get back together, but every dream she had about that was shattered.

For many minutes, she shook, cried, and thought. She was becoming lost in it all when she suddenly heard a knock on her door, which aggravated her. She simply wanted to be alone and get all this pain out of her system, but not even that could happen.

"Go away!" she snapped, not caring who was outside her door.

"Clare," the voice of Jake said from outside the door.

"Leave me alone!"

"There's someone here who wants to see you."

"I don't care. I want to be alone," she cried.

But Jake did not heed her wishes; seconds later, Clare heard the door open. She groaned and sat up, determined to get it through Jake's skull that she did not want anyone disturbing her. When she did, however, it was not only her stepbrother at the door, but another ex-boyfriend.

Eli was there, looking slightly out of place as he stood by Jake. Seeing him there made Clare's heart pound while her stomach did an unpleasant dance insider her. She was flustered and embarrassed, wishing that he did not have to see her crying or hear her yelling.

"Oh," Clare said, sitting up and trying to clear away her tears. "Hi."

"Hey," he greeted, a pit forming in his stomach at the sight of her tears.

"I'll just let you two talk," Jake said, backing away from the scene. "See you around, Eli."

"Jake," he replied as his acquaintance left them alone. He turned to Clare, who was still attempting to dry her eyes. "Is this a bad time?"

"No," she responded, not wanting to pass up this chance she had to talk to Eli. "Come on in."

Eli stepped into her room, only taking a second to look around so she could quickly compose herself. She took a breath once she was certain her tears had stopped and looked up at him.

"Um . . . what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I owe you an apology," he said, getting to the point.

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"For once," he said with a light chuckle. Although the atmosphere was somber and slightly unsettling, Clare cracked a smile. "I'm sorry about what Fiona and Imogen did. I must have given them some idea that . . ."

"That you still had feelings for me," she finished for him, the words tasting like acid on her tongue.

Eli nodded, feeling guilty that his friends had put her through this.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"It's okay," Clare said, her throat seeming to be strangling itself. She thought it was impossible for her to feel any more pain than she did five minutes ago, but she could not be more wrong. Eli implying that he did not like her made her reach a new level of low. "Did they . . . say anything to you about . . . us?"

"No," he said. "They just acted the same they always have. Why?"

"No reason," she answered untruthfully. She was actually hoping, much to her surprise, that they had told him about having feelings for him again just so she could know if there was some sort of possibility of being with him again no matter how small.

"Is there anything I could do to cheer you up?" he offered. "You look a bit down."

"I'm fine," she assured, attempting to live this lie. "It was just . . . crazy, that's all."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I can understand that they were just trying to help, but . . ."

"They went about it the wrong way," she concluded.

"Exactly," he agreed. "But, if you think about it, maybe what they did was not complete disaster."

"What do you mean?" she asked, the smallest bit of unexplainable hope lighting inside her.

"Well, now that we both know that neither of us have romantic feelings for each other, maybe we can be friends again and it won't be weird."

Clare forced a smile onto her face and nodded, not wanting to ruin whatever was starting to happen between her and Eli. He may not have had feelings for her, but they were speaking again, so she was determined to not mess it up.

"Right," she said, trying to keep her voice strong.

"Great," he grinned, pleased with this small amount of progress they were making. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Uh-hu," she nodded, wishing that she was not lying.

Eli was not buying her act at all, but he knew that pushing her would not help because he crowding her was a reason she left him in the first place.

"Okay, but . . . if you ever want to talk about stuff or if you just want a new person to talk to, you can do that."

"Thanks," she said, trying her best not to cry again.

"No problem."

She sat there and looked at him, her mind beginning to wander to the possibilities. What if Eli did know about her feelings? What if, deep down, he was still interested in her? What if she asked him out on a date? The list of "what ifs" was endless and she desperately wanted it to become shorter. The curiosity was gnawing away at her, but she did not want to cross the line that he had drawn. That line was friendship and she did not want to mess that up . . . she just prayed that she would be able to keep it all inside herself for as long as she could.

"Well . . . this has been exceptionally awkward," Eli said kiddingly, trying to lighten the mood. Clare grinned, trying to fight the pain and need to know. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she said, holding her tongue.

"Okay. See you around then."

As relieved as he was that he and Clare were on speaking terms again, he was honestly hoping that they would exchange more words and clear the air a bit more. He had said all he needed to say and he wanted Clare to bring something to the table. Unfortunately, he was once again misled by his own thoughts and decided not to push.

As he turned and began to make way towards the bedroom door, Clare knew that pain and then recovery would be a lot easier than dealing with the uncertainty inside her. Swallowing her pride and prepared for humility, she gathered air in her lungs.

"Eli," she said, standing up from her bed. He stopped and turned around, which suddenly caused her voice to get stuck in her throat.

"Yeah?" he asked, encouraging her to continue.

Clare stood there for a second, hoping that she would find a way to word this without making him feeling embarrassed, awkward, angry, or guilty.

"Um . . . so you really don't think that . . . that we should have a second chance?"

Eli was taken aback by what she said; he did not know how to answer, but he hoped that speaking with his gut would not offend her in any way.

"It's nothing personal, but . . . the last time we did go out, we sort of didn't talk for a long time and . . . this is the first conversation we had in months and I don't want us to go out again just so we could all the way back to square one."

"You think that will really happen if we date again?"

"Yeah, but why do you ask that if we don't . . . oh . . ." Eli said, the realization hitting him.

"Yeah," Clare said, embarrassed and sitting down on the bed again as her nerve faded away. She found herself wishing that she lived with the pain, or at least gave this more thought.

Eli rolled his lips, beginning to feel rotten about what he had said minutes ago. He was certain that telling her that he did not have feelings for her anymore could not have been easy for her. Last year, he was the one who still had feelings while she moved on and he remembered how much that hurt. He stared at Clare while she looked down at her knees, clearly embarrassed.

He desperately wanted to say that he did not mean what he said to make Clare feel better, but he could not lead her on like that. It was not so afraid of falling in love and then getting hurt again, he would not mind re-exploring their relationship for the second time. But there was too much at stake and putting his heart on the line like that so soon after getting better would not be a risk he was willing to take.

He just had to say this to Clare. She had not been aware of what was happening in his head for so long and he knew that not giving her explanation as to why he wanted to keep their relationship platonic would be unfair to her. He took a breath and moved towards her bed before sitting next to her, hoping that he would not say anything to make the situation worse.

"Look, Clare, it's not that I don't care about you. It's just . . . last time we went out . . . it did not exactly end well."

"I know, but . . . I thought that maybe we could . . . eventually try again someday."

"You're the one who said that we would not get back together," he reminded her.

"That was a while ago," she snapped, not wanting him to bring that up. "But . . . we've both changed since that point and . . . maybe dating again wouldn't be so bad?"

Eli sat there, completely abashed while still searching for a way to let her down easy.

"It would probably not be the best idea for us to go from nothing to a couple," he said.

"Then could we try to be friends again and see where it goes from there?" she suggested, turning to him and letting her eyes do the pleading.

Eli sighed, not seeing how he would be able to do this without hurting her feelings.

"I would like us to be friends, but . . . I can't guarantee that it could ever be more than that."

Clare rolled her lips, trying to ignore the sting this put to her heart.

"It's not personal," he assured, noticing her reaction.

"I understand," Clare said.

"I mean . . . maybe someday when there's nothing holding us back and when we're both ready for it, then we can probably give it another shot, but . . . just not right now or any time in the near future."

Despite the negative points he added at the end of his phrase, Clare felt her heart come alive. Even though there would not be any possibilities of them getting back together now, there was a window of opportunity in front of her and she prayed that it would remain open until he was ready to be with her again.

"Would you call me crazy if I told you that I would probably wait for you?"

Eli smirked and took her hand.

"I would actually love that."

Clare genuinely smiled for the first time since that afternoon.

"I guess Fiona and Imogen's plan worked; we're talking again."

"Just not exactly in the way they imagined it," Eli said.

Clare chuckled in agreement, knowing that they had expected this situation to play out in a completely different way. She grinned at Eli and she was pleased to see that he was grinning back while he continued to hold her hand.

"Do you want to go to the Dot or something?" he offered. "My treat."

Clare smiled wider, slightly touched that he was inviting her out with him although they were only going as friends.

"Let's go."

()()

Clare was surprisingly comfortable walking with Eli to the Dot. They did a lot of catching up, considering they have not talked in months. He sounded as if he had been doing this a lot better and he was enjoying life. She was pleased that he was happy, despite the fact that he did not have feelings for her on the surface.

The arrived at the Dot, smiles on their faces, and were ready to sit at a table when they saw Imogen waiting for an order. Surprised, they both looked at each other. They had both shouted at Imogen at lunch that day and they had begun to feel guilty about what they had said to her. She and Fiona were already in a disagreement, so yelling at her must not have helped.

"I need to go talk to Imogen real quick," Clare told him.

"I'll go with you; I have something to say to her."

The two of them made their way towards Imogen, who had just received her drink to go and was now turning around. She was surprised to see Eli and Clare there coming toward her . . . together. She stood there like a deer in the headlights, but she was too distracted by her own personal issues to care about what they could say.

"Hey, Imogen," Clare began.

"Hi," she replied. "Hi, Eli."

"Hey," he accosted, hoping that this would be the last uncomfortable situation he would be put in that day. "Imogen, I'm sorry about yelling at you today. I know you were just trying to help."

"Me too," Clare said.

"It's fine," Imogen said, her voice cracking.

"No, listen," Clare interjected. "I know I came down a bit hard on you at lunch, but I still want us to be friends. And Eli and I are talking again, so maybe the three of us and Fiona can all hang out sometime."

"No," Imogen said, tears swelling in her eyes at the sound of Fiona's name.

"Please," Eli stepped in. "We know that it's because of this plan that you two have been fighting, so if we tell her that –."

"No! Don't talk to her about anything!"

"Why not?"

"It's over between Fiona and I, okay?" she snapped. "She doesn't want to talk to me, she hasn't returned my calls, and she avoided me for the rest of the day."

"That doesn't mean that you guys are over," Clare reassured her.

"Then tell me what it means!" she demanded, wanting to have another explanation. To her dismay, Clare did not answer and simply turned her eyes down to the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Imo," Eli said.

"Well, I guess this is what I get. I went behind my friends' backs and I meddled where I didn't belong. I guess this was just karma coming back to get me."

"Imogen . . ." Clare said sympathetically, wishing there was something she could say to make the girl feel better.

"I'll see you guys at school," Imogen said before maneuvering passed them and exiting the café. As she did, Eli and Clare turned to each other again.

"This is terrible," Clare stated, feeling unreasonably guilty that this happened.

"Yeah," he agreed, shocked that his two friends had fallen apart after such a short time together. They sat down at the table, trying to let this sink in.

"Imogen always talked about Fiona," she told him. "How could they have just . . . ended over something that didn't have to do with them?"

"I don't know," Eli said. "Yesterday they were inseparable and now . . ."

Clare sighed in frustration, wishing that this could have ended differently for them.

"They were just trying to help us and their relationship suffered because of it. That is not right."

"No . . . no, it isn't," he then said as the wheels began to turn in his head. After a moment of consideration, his lips turned upward.

"What are you smiling about?" Clare asked him, seeing the grin on his face.

"They _were_ only trying to help."

"Yes. We established that fact," she nodded, not seeing why Eli felt the need to point out the obvious.

"And . . . it is kind of our fault that they broke up . . ."

"Yeah, it is kind of," she agreed, wishing to know what was up his sleeve.

"So maybe we should return the favor."

Clare saw Eli's eyes, and she could tell that he had a thought going through his head. He smirked wider; the wider he smirked, the wilder his eyes became.

"Where are you going with this Eli?"

A true smile of happiness on his face, he turned his head to Clare.

"Miss Edwards, have you ever been in the matchmaking business?"

* * *

I know there was more Eli/Clare interaction in this chapter when this is supposed to be a Fimogen story, but trust me on this! Reviews please!


End file.
